The Son You Wanted
by puzzlemistress
Summary: After Leo returns home from his time with the Ancient One, he learns that Donnie and Splinter fought and ties to help fix the broken relationship. When that fails, it's up to Mona, their sister, to try and talk Donnie into talking to Splinter.


Weeks went back since Leo's returns; he could sense someone was off. It was the presence in the air when Donnie and Splinter were in the same room. Donnie was always quick to leave the room when Splinter was there. All of the turtles were sick and tired of the friction. Ralph finally pulled Leo aside and told them of the fight that occurred when he left. Leo, instantly feeling responsible, tried even harder to get things sorted between the two of them, which sadly, only made things worse. Mona was sick and tired of all of the fighting and decided to pull up her sleeves and get things fixed herself. She went looking for her brother to find a note saying that he was on the rooftops. She went topside and found him on a roof, sitting on the ledge, with his bandana off in his hands.

"Hey genius," she took a seat next to him. "What's up with you and Splinter? Why haven't you tried to fix the relationship?"

"You know what the problem is. I don't know how to address the problem, so it's better not to talk about it."

"What's the one thing you want to ask him? Why did you fight? Why didn't we fix this sooner? What?"

Donnie thought about this for what felt like hours. He took a shaky breath and tried to steady his shaking hand.

"Am I the son he wanted? I'm not the ninja that you, Leo, Ralph, or Mikey are. I'm passionate about learning the science and not fighting."

"And Splinter understands that."

"He didn't sound so understanding when he was yelling at me."

"We needed someone to lead this family when Leo left; you were the logical choice."

"I get that, but I'm not meant to be the leader."

"You are an idiot to tank you aren't the son he wanted. Sure you're baptized the ninja you think he wanted but you'll always be the son he wanted. Do you remember when Splinter held school?"

"Yeah, course I do. It was when I fell in love with learning."

"But you don't know everything that transpired that," he looked at her confuse lay, aiming for her to continue. "Well, here's the story. We were around six when he started 'school'. He found elementary level math and grammar books while he was scavenging on the surface. He was able to find some at a book sale somewhere and brought them home. In them morning, he would take them and correct them. Wen he looked in yours, several pages would be done in advance."

"I remember that. I was nervous to show him my workbook since he said one page a night."

"He was surprised about how quickly you learned compared to me and the others. He wanted to test a theory he had in mind. Splinter went back to the surface and looked for a higher level math workbook to give to you as a test."

"I remember that. He told me 'I want you working in this workbook for now on. I will be putting a timer on for an hour, and you complete as many problems as possible'." Donnie realized in surprise.

"On the first day he gave it to you he only expected you to complete twenty problems. The second day it was thirty. He saw your progress and get smarter and faster. Splinter realized that he couldn't teach you the thing you needed to know to complete those problems because that knowledge came from our own mind. It was tough for him to come to terms with the fact that he was going to miss on those teaching moments wit you because you already knew everything. When it came to logic anyway. He hates to admit, but it made him feel useless."

"Wow, I-I never thought of it like that," Donnie said in sudden sadness.

"Splinter has always been amazed and curious by your knowledge. It scared him since that because he thought he was going to lose you faster than the rest of us."

"He's my father, of course, I will always need him."

"I know that, and he knows that too, but he feels as if he failed as a father," Mona explained while holding her brother's hand.

"Mona, thanks for this," he kissed her cheek before dashing to man hole, leaving Mona behind.

Donatello ran through the sewers with rigor until he reached the lair. He sprinted nervously to Splinter's door before taking a deep nervous breath. He slowly raised his fist to knock on the screen only to be stopped by his father's voice saying. "Come in, my son." He went into the room and moved to sit in in front of Splinter on the matt.

"What is it you would like to speak with me about?"

"I-I just wanted to say I'm sorry," Donnie kept his eyes on the mat and clenched his fist to keep him from crying.

"My son, why are apologizing? Has something happened with one of your experiments?" Splinter asked curiously.

"No, it's ju-just I-" his voice cracked briefly before a powerful sob escaped his lips.

Splinter reached for his son and hugged him tightly. Donnie sobbed brokenly into his chest while clinging to his robe. Splinter felt responsible for his son's pain not just with his second youngest but with all of his children. He would have given anything to undo all the damage he did. Splinter simply rubbed his trembling shell soothingly while placing small kisses on his head. Finally, when the tears subsided and his shaking stopped Donatello slightly pulled away to dry his face.

"Donatello, please, tell me what is wrong?"

"I-I'm sorry I'm not the son you wanted. I'm not li-like Leo or Ralph or Mikey or M-Mona. I'm not the son you wanted. I'm sorry that I wasn't the leader or the muscle or the free spirit or even the caring yet motherly personalty. I'm not like nay of them," he sobbed loudly while clinging to his robe. "I'm sorry that it took me this long to realize that I failed you as a son and a ninja."

Splinter sat there, holding his son lovingly, in shock of what his son just professed. He never realized how much of a burden he carried on his shoulders every day. Splinter felt guilty and instantly took responsibility for the way his son feels. With Leo's departure, the threats of Shedder, the responsibility of protecting the lair so they wouldn't be found; it was bound to break him eventually. He rubbed his shell as he soon found the words to speak.

"Donatello, it is I who should be apologizing for my behavior toward you. I placed too great of a burden on your shoulders for you to be alone. And for this my son, I am truly sorry. Why do you say that you are not the son I wanted? How could you think such a thing?"

"B-because you needed someone to take charge and I couldn't do that. Even when I was a kid, I was not into learning ninjutsu. I would rather be reading or working on my wires. I wasn't like the others," he answered with a weak sniffle.

"Donatello, I never expected you to love ninjutsu the way your sister and your brothers do. You all have different interest that reveals the personality in each of you. I made it a mission to teach you all the arts of ninjutsu because I knew that one day this lair, these very sewers, were going to become too small for you. I knew that one day you would try and forge a life on the surface and you would need to protect yourself. Granted, the world now is not ready to know of our existence, but they might not need to know the face of the knowledge they will one day obtain. I have known you were different from the day you could walk. I knew, in my heart, you were not like your siblings. When I started to teach you, your brain worked differently than theirs. Math, science, reading came quicker to you than your siblings. I honestly had no idea how to teach you because you were teaching yourself. It was incredible to watch you teach yourself and learn but at the same time; it was heart breaking. I was so thrilled to watch your progress in life, but it was heart breaking to know that you no longer needed me."

"Master, I will always need you," he softly cleared his throat, finally calming down. "No matter how smart I was, I will always need you."

"I know that now, Donatello. My son, I am so proud of all you have achieved; with your knowledge of this world, your advancement in ninjutsu, to your inventions. Your brain has saved our family more times than we can count. Never think that you are not the son I wanted due to your different interests. You, including your siblings, are my proudest achievements in the world. I am so proud to be able to call you my son," he smiled at him as tears of joy trickled down his face.

Donnie leaped into his arms, once against sobbing into his robe while Splinter allowed his own tears to dampen his son's shoulders. This time these tears were in relief to have this burden of guilt lifted off his shoulders. He felt relieved at the fact his father understood his emotions in a positive way and was in shock at his thoughts toward himself. After several minutes of more crying, Splinter singing softly in his ear, he pulled out of the embrace. Splinter raised his sleeve to wipe away his son's tears before his own.

"Thank you for understand father," he said while trying to clear his throat.

"Anything for my children. I am here for you Donatello, no matter what. Understand," Splinter said with a soft smile.

"Hai father. Thank you."

Donatello moved from his lap before they bowed to each other. He stood from his seat, leaving Splinter back to his meditation and headed to the lab. Splinter gave a small smile in pleasure as Mona came out from the shadows and moved to kneel down next to him.

"I told you that you two need to talk," she said with a small smirk on her lips.

"Thank you for speaking with him Mona."

"Of course. Anything for Donnie."

FIN


End file.
